Minimum Staffing Requirements for Clinics in the UAE: Who You Must Hire
Short answer: The minimum staffing requirements for clinics in the UAE start with two things everywhere: a licensed medical director and enough licensed staff for the services you offer. Dubai goes further and publishes a minimum per clinic type: a general clinic, for example, needs a full time GP plus a full time registered nurse and assistant nurse. Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates do not publish a simple headcount table, so their minimum is agreed through the licensing file and inspection.
Last verified: October 2026 against the DHA Standards for Outpatient Facilities (2025), the DHA Medical Director Policy, the DHA Manual for Licensing Health Facility, the DHA Standards for Standalone Day Surgery Centres, Cabinet Resolution No. 29 of 2020 (as amended), DOH Abu Dhabi licensing and primary care standards, and SHA and MOHAP service pages.
Key Takeaways
- Every private clinic in the UAE needs a licensed medical or technical director, and federal rules give you two weeks to replace one who leaves.
- Dubai’s outpatient standard lists the minimum professionals for each clinic type, and most types need a full time doctor plus a full time registered nurse and assistant nurse.
- All clinical staff must be licensed by the regulator before they start, and in Dubai the medical director must make sure of it.
- In Dubai every professional needs BLS, but ACLS is only required for listed specialties such as cardiology, anaesthesia and emergency medicine.
- Lab and X-ray services bring their own staff: a lab technician with a pathologist, or a radiographer with a radiologist, unless you outsource the service.
- Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and MOHAP do not publish a per clinic headcount, so confirm the minimum with the regulator before you sign contracts.
The Rule Every Emirate Shares: A Licensed Director
The federal rules on private health facilities, Cabinet Resolution No. 29 of 2020 (as amended), make appointing a director a licence condition, which makes it the first of the minimum staffing requirements for clinics in every emirate. For an outpatient clinic the director must be a physician licensed in one of the specialties the clinic offers, or a specialist professional qualified in the clinic’s field. The local authority can add its own requirements on top.
The same resolution has a rule many owners only learn when it is too late. If the director’s post falls vacant, the owner must appoint a substitute and tell the health authority within two weeks, or close the clinic temporarily until a new director is in place. If your clinic depends on one doctor who is also the director, plan for that resignation before it happens.
The resolution also says a clinic must provide the staff needed for the nature and scope of its activity, keep all health personnel licensed and insured, and not let unlicensed staff or visiting doctors work without the authority’s prior approval.
Dubai: Minimum Staff by Clinic Type
DHA is the clearest regulator on minimum staffing requirements for clinics. Its Standards for Outpatient Facilities, in force since January 2025, include a table of the minimum healthcare professionals for each outpatient category:
| Clinic Type | Minimum Professionals | Who Runs It |
|---|---|---|
| General Clinic | Full time GP, full time registered nurse and assistant nurse | General practitioners |
| Specialty Clinic | Full time specialist or consultant physician, full time registered nurse and assistant nurse | Doctors of the same specialty |
| Polyclinic | Full time licensed physicians, full time registered nurse and assistant nurse, a dentist if dental is offered, a pathologist or radiologist (part or full time) if lab or imaging is offered | Medical Director |
| General Dental Clinic | Full time general dentist and full time registered nurse | General dentists |
| Express Clinic (inside a pharmacy) | Full time GP and full time registered nurse | General practitioners |
| Hotel or Company Clinic (first aid only) | Full time nurse | Led by the nurse |
A hotel or company clinic that offers medical services, not just first aid, is treated as a general clinic, specialty clinic or polyclinic and must meet that category’s staffing. A polyclinic, in DHA’s definition, covers at least two different specialties.
The standard also says there must be enough registered nurses and assistant nurses on duty to plan, carry out and evaluate nursing care, and that a female healthcare professional, which can be a DHA registered female nurse, must be present when a doctor examines a female patient. DHA does not publish a fixed nurse to doctor ratio, so the table is a floor, not a full rota.
Two more Dubai rules shape your rota. Outpatient facilities may not operate 24 hours a day, and every clinic must have a documented process for working out its staffing needs by number, type and qualification of staff. Inspectors ask to see it.
The Medical Director’s Duties in Dubai
DHA’s Medical Director Policy requires every DHA licensed facility to have one, and the licensing manual lists appointing a medical director as a condition for activating the facility licence. The role carries real duties:
- Making sure there are enough trained clinical, nonclinical and support staff.
- Making sure every clinical staff member is licensed before treating patients and holds valid malpractice insurance.
- Reporting anyone found working without DHA approval.
- Taking responsibility for the clinic’s health advertising.
- Notifying DHA of leave over 30 days, with the owner appointing a qualified medical director to cover it.
The medical director signs an undertaking when licensed and can face disciplinary action for not complying. DHA’s licensing manual also warns that if no licensed professional staff are available, the facility will be temporarily closed. We often see small clinics where the owner, the director and the only doctor are the same person. That works on paper, but leave and resignation need a written plan.
Life Support Training, Lab and X-ray Staff
Training requirements are often over-applied, which costs money. In Dubai:
| Requirement | Who Needs It |
|---|---|
| BLS | All healthcare professionals in the clinic |
| ACLS | Only listed roles: cardiologists, anaesthesiologists, emergency specialists, intensivists, pulmonologists, medical oncologists, palliative medicine specialists, interventional radiologists and respiratory therapists |
| PALS | Paediatricians, paediatric sub-specialists, paediatric dentists, and anaesthesiologists and emergency specialists who treat children |
Dentists giving nitrous oxide sedation need ACLS for adults or PALS for children, under the same standard.
If you run your own lab, DHA expects at least one licensed laboratory technician and a full or part time specialist or consultant pathologist supervising it. In-house X-ray needs a licensed radiographer and a full or part time radiologist. Both services can be outsourced to a licensed provider instead, which is often the cheaper choice for a new clinic. The Infection Control Department reports to the medical director, and all staff must be trained in infection control, although DHA does not name a separate infection control officer for small clinics.
Day surgery centres sit under a separate DHA standard with heavier rules, including a full time physician medical director, at least one full time specialist or consultant surgeon, and anaesthetist cover by class.
Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates
Outside Dubai the regulators require the same building blocks but do not publish their minimum staffing requirements for clinics as a simple headcount per clinic type.
- Abu Dhabi (DOH): the facility licensure standard requires you to register the minimum required medical professionals before activation, and all staff must be DOH licensed and privileged. For primary care services, the medical director must be a consultant or specialist family physician and the team must be a licensed multidisciplinary team suited to the services. DOH also requires BLS training for staff caring directly for patients, refreshed at least every two years.
- Sharjah (SHA): the permanent licence needs a licensed medical director and a technical supervisor as per the facility type. SHA refers to a required minimum healthcare staffing but does not publish the numbers.
- Northern Emirates (MOHAP): final approval requires that the facility has hired the required staff. The director rule is the federal one described above.
Our practical advice for these emirates: before you sign employment contracts or visas, put your proposed staff list and services in writing and get it confirmed during the licensing review. A clinic that hires first and asks later can end up paying salaries while waiting for one more licence.
Frequently Asked Questions.
How many staff do I need to open a clinic in Dubai?
For a general clinic, DHA’s minimum is a full time GP plus a full time registered nurse and assistant nurse. A specialty clinic needs a full time specialist or consultant instead of the GP. You also need a medical director, which can be one of those doctors.
Who can be the medical director of a clinic?
Under the federal rules, a physician licensed in one of the clinic’s specialties, or a specialist professional qualified in the clinic’s field. Each authority can add requirements. In Abu Dhabi, primary care services need a consultant or specialist family physician as medical director.
What happens if my medical director resigns?
You must appoint a substitute and notify the health authority within two weeks of the vacancy, or close the clinic temporarily until a new director is appointed.
Do all clinic doctors in Dubai need ACLS?
No. All healthcare professionals need BLS. ACLS is required only for listed specialties such as cardiology, anaesthesia, emergency medicine and intensive care, and PALS for those treating children.
Can a visiting or part time doctor work in my clinic?
Only with the licensing authority’s prior approval and the right licence. The federal rules forbid unlicensed staff and visiting doctors without approval, and part time licences have their own application steps.
Where This Comes From.
- DHA Standards for Outpatient Facilities (ST-45, effective January 2025)
- DHA Policy: Role and Responsibilities of Medical Director (HP-16)
- DHA Manual for Licensing Health Facility
- DHA Standards for Standalone Day Surgery Centres (Version 4)
- Cabinet Resolution No. 29 of 2020, Executive Regulations of Federal Law No. 4 of 2015 on Private Health Facilities
- DOH Standard for Healthcare Facility Licensure (V6, 2025)
- DOH Standard for Primary Healthcare Services (V2, 2022)
- DOH Healthcare Providers Manual
- SHA: Permanent License Service
- MOHAP: Final Approval for Licensing or Re-licensing a Health Facility
How OzaniX Partners Can Help.
Getting staffing right is part licensing and part HR. Our Licensing and Regulatory Advisory team checks your clinic type and services against the minimum staffing requirements for clinics set by your regulator before you apply, and our Healthcare HR team builds the staffing plan, contracts and licence tracker that inspectors ask to see, so you hire the people you need in the right order.
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